mike goldsworthy

“Almost nothing that makes any real difference can be proved”

~ Frederich Buechner, Wishful Thinking

I was listening recently to Malcolm Gladwell on the Catalyst Podcast.  The guy is brilliant.  If you’ve read any of his books before, or happened upon his articles in the New Yorker Magazine, you’ve seen his uncanny ability to see things in ways we hadn’t noticed before, and to make connections that make sense later but you needed someone like him to first notice.  Plus his hair is awesome. 

He was asked something along the lines of what will make someone succeed today, and he responded by saying, “you have to live with an insatiable curiosity”.  That you’re willing to learn new stuff, you try new things, you’re reading new stuff.  You live with a curiosity that never allows you to sit complacently, but instead has to always be learning something more or something new. 

I love that idea.  That’s one of the things I want to be known for – living with an insatiable curiosity.  And really, couldn’t you in a way say that’s what those of us following Jesus should be striving for.  A part of following Jesus is to be a seeker of truth – so it seems that we should be a people who are known for living with an insatiable curiosity. 

Most of the time Christians are known for the opposite.  We’re rigid and fixed and often act as if we’ve got it all figured out.  What if instead, we were the ones known for living with an insatiable curiosity…

“There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.“
~Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Heretics are the new leaders. The ones who challenge the status quo, who get out in front of their tribes, who create movements.
~ Seth Godin in Tribes

“I wonder if for many of us, the only thing stopping us from living the life God created for us to live – the life of our dreams – is to let go of a life so good that it betrays the great.”

~ Erwin McManus, Wide Awake

Sometimes the limitations you are willing to accept establish the boundaries of your existence.

~ Erwin McManus in Wide Awake

“I leave you with the image of the leader with outstretched hands, who chooses a life of downward mobility. It is the image of the praying leader, the vulnerable leader and the trusting leader. May that image fill your hearts with hope, courage, and confidence as you anticipate the next century.”

~ Henri Nouwen in, In the Name of Jesus

Meaningful mission and the hope for multiethnic community can bring out the best in us as we put aside our own preferences for the sake of others.

~ Brian Sanders in Life After Church